OutFest 2001: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival announced prolific producer Christine Vachon as the 2001 OUTFEST Achievement Award winner, the award winning documentary SOUTHERN COMFORT as the Festival Centerpiece, Susan Seidelman’s GAUDI AFTERNOON as this year’s Award’s Night film selection, in addition to the complete Outfest Under the Stars lineup. An announcement of the full slate of films to be presented at the festival will be made shortly.
Receiving the 5th annual OUTFEST Achievement Award this year is one of the most prolific producers in the independent film world, Christine Vachon. Vachon is the New York based producer of some of the most honored, hit gay and lesbian films in history, including OUTFEST 2001 opening night film Hedwig and the Angry Inch; the Academy Award winning Boys Don’t Cry; Poison; Swoon; Go Fish; Stonewall; Velvet Goldmine and I Shot Andy Warhol. Emmy Award winner Camryn Manheim, who co-starred in Vachon’s film Happiness, will present the award to Vachon at the Opening Night Gala to be held at the historic Orpheum Theater on Thursday, July 12, before the Los Angeles premiere screening of Fine Line Features’ HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. “Christine Vachon is the single most important producer in the history of lesbian and gay cinema,” said Stephen Gutwillig, OUTFEST Executive Director. “It is a particular thrill to be honoring Christine at OUTFEST, a festival where so many filmmakers have looked to her as their inspiration and role model,” he added.
SOUTHERN COMFORT, the Festival Centerpiece, is Kate Davis’ wonderfully humanistic documentary portrait of Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual stricken with ovarian cancer, living deep inside Ku Klux Klan territory in the rural trailer park community of Toccoa, Georgia. Winner of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, SOUTHERN COMFORT is a moving and illuminating examination of gender and the human spirit. It will screen on Tuesday, July 17 at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Boulevard.
The Awards Night film at OUTFEST 2001 is GAUDI AFTERNOON, the highly anticipated new comedy from Susan Seidelman, the director of Desperately Seeking Susan. Starring Judy Davis, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis and Lili Taylor, the film is a sexy, delicious romp through the winding back streets of human foibles and lunacy, brightened with generous amounts of adventure and romance. The screening, which follows the 7th annual OUTFEST Film Competition Awards presentation, hosted by Bruce Vilanch, will be held at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 22.
The Awards Night event is part of the fourth annual OUTFEST UNDER THE STARS series, a four night, outdoor screening showcase of some of the most exciting works in the queer film stratosphere. The series, perennially one of OUTFEST’s most popular attractions, kicks off July 18 with the Los Angeles premiere of GREASE SING-A-LONG!, a screening of the beloved classic souped up with subtitles, so viewers can join in and croon along, which will be introduced by the film’s director Randal Kleiser; on July 19 the series presents GYPSY 83, the delightful first feature from Todd Stephens, writer/producer of previous OUTFEST Audience Award winner Edge of Seventeen; on Friday, July 20 audiences will be treated to the award-winning ADVENTURES OF FELIX (Drole De Felix), a lyrical, deceptively-simple portrait of one adventurous young man, and of modern gay life, by directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineu; and on July 21, OUTFEST brings acclaimed director Bob Gosse’s (Niagara, Niagara) JULIE JOHNSON to the Ford. Featuring the unbeatable pairing of Lili Taylor and Courtney Love as best friends who discover their relationship may be more than just platonic when each makes efforts to change their lives in significant ways.
For more info call 323-960-0636 or visit the OutFest 2001 website.
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